


Into the Woods

by lunibean



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Fae & Fairies, M/M, Pixies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-12
Updated: 2018-02-12
Packaged: 2019-03-16 16:20:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13639896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lunibean/pseuds/lunibean
Summary: Luhan didn't believe in fairies or any magical creatures, thinking they were just things from bedtime stories, but that all changes when he runs into fairies while walking through the forest.





	Into the Woods

**Author's Note:**

> Ticket No. 216  
> Pairing: Jongin/Luhan  
> Time Period: Medieval  
> Author's Note: I had a lot of fun writing this! And while reading the prompt I thought of one of dancingbilly's fanart: http://mydancingbilly.tumblr.com/post/116709516199/spring-bear

Luhan sighs as he continues walking through the forest pulling his bag’s strap up higher on his shoulder. This is a terrible idea, walking through this place by himself. It’s starting to get dark, he needs to hurry and get through the forest to the town on the other side.

He stops walking when he hears something moving near him, it sounds like giggling? Luhan remembers there being stories of magical creatures roaming throughout the forest, but he didn’t believe them, they were complete nonsense. They were just stories to scare children into not running off. Right? He holds his breath as the sound moves closer, confirming that it is giggling he hears now.

The brunet notices a soft glow coming from in front of him. He blinks a couple of times when he sees a small, little girl fly out from behind the tree. She stops to look at him and Luhan has to rub his eyes at the sight of her tiny wings. Is he dreaming? This can’t be possible. Fairies aren’t real!

A few more tiny fairies come out from behind the tree catching up with the other. They all stop chattering and giggling and stare at Luhan.

“Hello traveler!” one of the fairies says, it’s voice childlike. “Are you lost?”

He blinks a few more times at them before he realizes they were talking to him. “Oh…um…I guess?”

Another fairy flies up closer to him. “Oh! We can help you out of the forest!” she chirps happily.

The rest of the group shout in agreement, flying around happily.

“Um…ok. Thank you?” Luhan is still trying to process everything, finally coming to terms that this isn’t a dream.

It is getting darker in forest, but the fairies’ bodies cast a soft light. Some would fly close to Luhan and tug on his sleeve urging him to move faster, nearly causing him to trip on the foliage on the ground.

They walk through the forest for quite some time, the moonlight giving the forest a soft glow of light. Luhan’s about to speak up, but he sees the glow of a brighter lights up ahead. He begins to walk faster, hoping that the light is from other travelers heading to the same place he is.

When he breaks through the bushes, Luhan smiles to see people his size. His smile falters though, noticing that these people were wearing flower crowns and loose-fitting clothes. He also notices the small orbs of lights floating around. Did he run into more magical creatures?

He starts backing up and moves to head back into the woods, but the small group of fairies tug on his cloak.

“Where are you going?” one fairy asks, sounding upset.

Luhan turns to look at them. “I need to get out of the forest! You tricked me!”

The fairies giggle some more, still tugging at his cloak. He tugs back harder, and the fairies let go, flying away with pouts on their faces.

Making sure that they’re not following him, Luhan moves to leave the small clearing, only stopping shortly because he nearly collides into someone. The person places a hand gently on Luhan’s arm, steadying him.

The apology about to leave his mouth stops when he looks up, and he forgets what he was about to say.

He _must_ be dreaming. Because he’s never seen a person like this before. The stranger is tall with sun-kissed skin, soft, messy hair hidden underneath a crown of large flowers, the white, light pinks, and purples of the flowers giving a nice contrast to the chocolate strands. His eyes turn into little crescents when he smiles, Luhan doesn’t miss the vibrant purple of the stranger’s irises.

“Sorry…” the stranger says, his voice warm and soft.

“Are you real?” Luhan asks dumbly.

The stranger laughs and it sounds like music to Luhan’s ears. “Yes, I am real,” he says and grabs Luhan’s hand and gives it a squeeze as to confirm that he is very much real.

“Did the pixies lead you here? They like to trick humans.”

“Pixies? I thought they were fairies….”

The stranger laughs again. “Don’t let them hear you call them fairies,” he whispers, an amused smile on his lips, “they hate it when they’re called that.”

“But aren’t pixies and fairies the same?” Luhan asks, he doesn’t know much about magical creatures because he always believed they were just made up to be put into bedtime stories for children.

The stranger leads Luhan closer to the clearing, their hands still intertwined. “Pixies are smaller, as you’ve seen. Fairies range in size from a child or adult, but they can also change to be about the same size as pixies,” he explains.

“Are you a fairy?”

The man turns to look at Luhan and smiles. He brings a finger up to lips and whispers, “That’s a secret.”

Luhan is confused by the statement. So, did that mean this stranger is a fairy? He knew that he’s most definitely not human.

“Do you dance?” the stranger asks, his purple eyes shine in the soft light emitted from the orbs.

“Not really…” Luhan says.

“That’s okay, just try and follow me,” the stranger says as music begins to play. He has Luhan take his bag and cloak off, setting them down neatly on the ground before taking Luhan’s hand and pulling him into the small circle the people were dancing in.

The orbs of light start to change to every color of the rainbow as Luhan and the stranger twirl around in the circle with the others. Everyone is laughing and humming along to the music playing.

Luhan forgets about reaching the town, having quite a good time dancing with these strangers. He laughs when he stumbles trying to follow the stranger in the dance.

Time is lost to them as they dance throughout the night.

Luhan knows he should be feeling tired as it is already late into the night, but for some odd reason he isn’t. He remembers hearing stories from some of the people back in his old town that fairies would dance in a circle just like this and if mortals were to step in them they would be trapped. Is he going to be trapped here forever? The thought scares him.

Loud laughter pulls him from his thoughts, he looks over to a couple, a smaller man with soft, blond hair laughing at his companion, whose hair is a mix of soft pink and blue, and slightly pointed ears.

“Are you okay?” Luhan’s attention is drawn back to the stranger, that’s when Luhan realizes that he’s stopped dancing and is standing a bit from the circle. The stranger looks at him, concern swimming in his purple eyes.

“Am I going to be trapped here?” he can’t help but ask. Luhan wouldn’t mind, but he does have his family and he still wants to travel.

“No, why would you be trapped here?” the stranger furrows his eyebrows in confusion. “You can leave anytime you want.”

Luhan sighs in relief. “I’m sorry, it’s just I’ve heard stories that these…fairy circles trap humans.”

The stranger laughs. “Why would we trap you here? We just like to dance,” he says smiling brightly, “and anybody is welcomed to join.”

Luhan relaxes. “But if anybody were to upset one of the fairies or disrespect them in anyway then they could possibly be trapped in the circle,” the stranger says, with a hint of seriousness in his voice. He shrugs, and his smile returns when he looks back to Luhan.  

Luhan gives him a smile and looks back to the people dancing. Fireflies fly around in a circle above them casting everyone in a warm glow.

The blond man and his companion come up to the two, both smiling brightly.

“Here,” the blond man says, holding out a flower crown to Luhan. “You’re the only one without one so we made you one.”

“Oh, thank you,” Luhan says, taking the flower crown from the other, he holds it delicately in his hands. The flowers were similar to that of the stranger’s except instead of white, pink, and purple, his has white, yellow, and blue. He brings the flower crown up and sets it down on top of his head.

“There. Now you look like one of us!” the blond’s tall companion says before the two walk away to join back in the dancing.

Luhan walks over to his belongings and sits down.

“Are you tired?” the stranger asks, sitting next to him.

“No, not really…” Luhan tells him, watching everyone dance.

The two sit peacefully while everyone else dances, some fireflies float down around them or rest on the flowers of their crowns.

“Ah, so you did stay!” the pixies cheer as they come and fly around, a couple of them resting on the stranger’s shoulders.

“Yes, I stayed,” Luhan says and swipes away some of the pixies that try to land on him but gives up when he realizes there’s no use. He can hear them giggling as they sit on his head, playing with the flowers.

The stranger laughs at Luhan while one of the pixies sitting on his shoulder stands to whisper in his ear. He smiles and nods his head at whatever the tiny girl is saying.

“What did she say?” Luhan asks once the pixies get up and fly away, their laughter echoing in the air.

The stranger gives him a smile. “She said with the crown on your head, you almost look like a fairy.”

“Oh….” Luhan wasn’t sure if that is supposed to be a compliment or not.

“Hey, you are all fairies, right?” Luhan asks, turning to face the stranger, who gives him a nod, “then where are your wings?”

“Well, fairies can hide them. It helps them blend in better when they’re among humans,” the stranger explains.

Luhan nods, as if he understands what the stranger is talking about.

“So, you’re a fairy?”

“I told you. That’s a secret,” the stranger says smiling at him.

Luhan huffs and rolls his eyes, but still smiles.

“So, where were you headed before the pixies found you?”

“I was headed to the town on the other side of this forest. The monastery there has some manuscripts I want to look at,” Luhan tells him.

The stranger hums in response before he stands and extends a hand out to Luhan. “Well it’s almost morning, I can show you a path that’ll get you through the forest.”

“Really! Thank you,” Luhan says, grabbing the strangers hand and stands up. He picks up his cloak and bag and follows the stranger.

Before they leave the clearing, Luhan looks back at everyone still dancing. He sees the blond man and his companion both laughing and smiling. The blond man looks over at Luhan and waves, the other follows his movements. Luhan smiles and waves back before turning around and following the stranger out of the clearing.

They walk until the light and noise from the fairy circle is gone and the only light is from the sky brightening up from the rising sun and the faint chirping of birds waking up.

“Here, this will lead you to town,” the stranger says, showing Luhan a path.

“Thank you.” Luhan puts his cloak on and adjusts his bag on his shoulders. He takes off the flower crown and hands it to the stranger. “Here, I won’t be needing this.”

The stranger shakes his head. “No, keep it. It’s yours now,” he says smiling.

Luhan smiles and carefully puts the crown in his bag. He looks down the path leading towards town before looking back at the stranger.

“Well, thank you for everything, I guess….”

The stranger hums. “You’re welcome.”

Luhan goes to leave but stops. “Wait, I know this is late but what’s your name? Or is that a secret as well?” he questions.

The stranger laughs. “No, I won’t keep that from you. My name’s Jongin,” he says.

Luhan smiles. “Well, I’m Luhan.”

“Well, it was nice meeting you, Luhan,” Jongin says.

“Yeah, it was nice meeting you too, Jongin.”

Luhan starts to leave but stops again. “Will I ever see you again?”

Jongin gives him a warm smile. “Well if you’re in a forest, we’ll find each other.”

Luhan smiles and nods before giving a small wave. Jongin waves back as Luhan turns and heads down the path.

Luhan turns back one more time, but Jongin is already gone, no sign that he was there at all.

He’ll have to remember to get lost in the forest again if it meant that he’d meet Jongin again.


End file.
